Unseen Passage 2: Sophie Germain (bbc compacta class 6th Self access module Q.8.)

 Q.  Read the following passage carefully.

(1) Sophie Germain was a mathematical genius who lived between 1776 and 1831. She was born in France. Her father, Ambroze Franscois, was a silk merchant. He and her mother, Marie Germain, were intellectuals who were active in the French Revolution.

(2) At the time, in France, daughters of wealthy people were given private tution, in reading and writing, but not maths, which they were never expected to use. Only boys went to school.

(3) Sophie spent a lot of time in her father's library, reading. There she came across a story about Archimedes, an ancient scientist, who was killed by the Romans because he was so engrossed in working out a math problem that he didn't notice their arrival. What was it about mathematics that could have so captivated a man's mind? Sophie wondered. To find out, she began to read books on mathematics.

(4) Her interest frightened her parents. They worried that it was harmful for a female to be engrossed in such a subject and tried to discourage her by putting out the fire when they went to bed, and taking away all the candles in her room to prevent her from reading after bedtime. Sophie didn't argue with parents, but she did hide candles away, and, after her parents were sound asleep, she would get up, wrap herself in a blanket, and, work on math problems in candlelight. One morning, her parents discovered their daughter's secret. She had fallen asleep at her desk. It had been so cold that the ink in her bottle had frozen!

(5) Realising that she wasn't going to give up, her parent reluctantly agreed to allow her to study on her own. However, they did not actively help by hiring tutors, and kept hoping that she would outgrow her interest. Finally, understanding that this would never happen, her mother secretly provided Sophie with financial support to study maths.                [Dr. T. V. Padma (The Hindu)]

                             Questions

(I) On the basis of your reading of the passage, complete the following sentences as briefly as possible. Write the answers in the space provided. 

(a) During Sophie's time, French daughters were not allowed to study maths because .... .

(b) Sophie's interest in mathematics frightened her parents because .............. .

(c) Two things Sophie's parents did to prevent her from reading after bedtime were: (i)......... and (ii) ......... .

(d) However, Sophie managed to continue to work on mathematics by: (i) .......... and (ii) ....... .

(e) Sophie's parents discovered her secret one day when ............. .

(f) Sophie's parents finally agreed to allow her to study mathematics because ................ .

(g) '.... this would never happen.' Here 'this' refers to ........... .

(h) Sophie's mother eventually helped her to study mathematics by .......... .

(II) Find words from passage which mean the same as the following from the paragraphs indicated. Write the answers in the space provided.

(a) Well educated persons (paragraph 1)

(b) charmed; attracted (paragraph 3)

                          Answers

(I) 

(a) they were never expected to use it. (para 2)

(b) they worried that it was harmful for a female to be engrossed in such a subject. (para 4) 

(c) (i) putting out the fire when they went to bed.

  (ii) taking away all the candles from her room. (para 4)

(d) (i) by hiding candles 

       (ii) by wrapping herself in a blanket.(para 4)

(e) she had fallen asleep at her desk (para 4)

(f) she wasn't going to give up (para 5)

(g) outgrow her interest (para 5)

(h) secretly providing financial help to her (para 5)

(II)

(a) Intellectuals

(b) captivated

Tradition Against Modernity

 Q. You are Somya/Somesh. You feel disturbed to see the modern youngsters going away from age old traditions and forgetting the basic moral values. You decide to deliver a speech in the morning assembly of your school highlighting your views on 'Tradition against Modernity'. Taking ideas from the Unit 'Changing Times' and using your own ideas, write a speech in about 100-150 words.

A.        TRADITION AGAINST MODERNITY

Respected Principal, My worthy teachers and dear friends. Today I stand before you to express my views on the topic 'Tradition Against Modernity'.

Science has brought tremendous changes in the world. With the passage of time, the society is changing and its behaviour is also changing with a great pace(mean speed). It is changing from a traditional society to a modern one. People are adopting the western culture and are blindly adapting their fashion trends. These days the young generation is crazy for western styles. They are forgetting their traditions and are going for a funky styles like wearing short dresses, tatooing their bodies etc. They feel that their culture is worthless. It is good to change but we should not cross our limits. Modernity means to have a broad outlook towards our lives. Thus, it becomes the duty of every people to save his culture and traditions so that we can leave a strong nation for the future generation.

Thank you!

Unseen Passage 1: The Musical Donkey (BBC Compacta class 6th Self Access Module Q.9)

 Q1. Read the following story carefully.

THE MUSICAL DONKEY

(1)  Once a washerman had a donkey. The donkey was old and lean. During the day the donkey had to carry heavy loads of clothes, but at night he was free to go about.

(2)  The donkey happened to meet a jackal. They became friends and wandered together in search of food.

(3) One night they found a garden full of ripe cucumbers. They went in and ate as much as they could and come back. The next night they went there again and ate as much cucumber as they wanted. This went on night after night and soon the donkey become fat.

(4) A few days later the donkey felt so happy after eating the cucumber that he said to the jackal, "Look, dear Nephew, the moon is shining in the sky, the night is pleasant, and I feel like singing."

(5) "Don't, Uncle, please don't", said the jackal."It will only bring trouble for us. The farmers will hear you and they will come after us. We are thieves here. It is better for thieves to be quite."

(6) "Dear Nephew," said the donkey, "everything here is lovely and I feel so happy that I must sing a nice song."

(7) "Shut up, Uncle," said the jackal. If you sing, the farmers will hear you. Believe me, they will surely come here to reward you. Their reward you may not like. So you'd better not to sing." But the donkey wouldn't listen to the jackal and began to bray again.

(8) "Very well, Uncle," said the jackal. "You can sing as much as you like but I shall go and wait for you outside the garden."

(9) The donkey began to "sing". The farmers heard his loud braying. They knew that a donkey was in the garden and they all rushed there with heavy weapons. The donkey was still braying when they started beating him. They beat him so hard that the donkey fell down. The farmers tied a heavy mortar round his neck before they left.

(10) The jackal was waiting outside the garden when the donkey dragged himself out. "Dear Uncle," said the jackal, "so the farmers gave you a big reward for their singing. Congratulations."

(11) "I am sorry, Nephew," said the donkey, "that I did not listen to you."

                      Questions

(I) On the basis of your reading the above story, complete the following sentences as briefly as possible. 

(a)  During the day the donkey ...................

(b) The donkey moved around at night with the jackal ....................

(c) After eating cucumber the donkey ...........

(d) On one such night the donkey expressed his desire ........................

(e) The loud braying ................. the farmers and they ....................

(II) Answer the following questions as briefly as posssible.

(a) What piece of advice did the jackal give to his friend- donkey? How did the donkey react to his friend's advice?

(b) Why did the jackal go out of the garden when the donkey began to sing?

(c) How was the donkey rewarded by the farmers for his singing?

(III) Find word from the passage which almost mean the opposite of the following from the paragraphs indicated. 

 (a) fat (paragraphs 1-3)

 (b) punish (paragraphs 6-7)

   

                                Answers

(I) 

(a)  had to carry heavy loads of clothes. (para 1)

(b) in search of food. (para 2)

(c) become fat. (para 3)

(d) of singing. (para 4)

(e) will hear,  will come after us. (para 5)

(II)

(a) The jackal advised the donkey not to sing. 

He did not listen to the jackal and kept on braying. (para 7)

(b) The jackal went out of the garden because he knew the farmers would beat up donkey when he sing. (para 7)

(c) The donkey was rewarded by the farmers for his singing with hard beatings and they tied a heavy motor round his neck. (para 9)

(III)

(a) lean 

(b) reward

Media-Impact on Teenagers

 Q. Today's generation easily gets influenced by Media and its resources. Media has the power to hold the attention of the audiences especially the teenagers who are prone to get affected by the hype(वहम) created for things by media. You are varun/varunika of class VIII, you feel concerned and decide to write an article on 'Media-Impact on teenagers'. Express your views by taking hints from the unit 'Changing times'. (word limit: 120-150 words)

A.       MEDIA-IMPACT ON TEENAGERS

                                                    By- Varun

Teenagers today depend on the media for information on everything like latest gadgets, fashion trends, new cars etc. in the market. The effect of media on teenagers is far reaching. It almost controls the minds of teenagers like a giant remote control.

Due to the effect of media, the teenagers are proved to act violently. Watching too much of  T.V. takes the children away from school work. The children should be supervised by their elders while watching T.V. or internet. It is also found that those who watch T.V. for a long hours develop obesity. Advertisements and movies bring some bad habits like smoking, use of drugs and alcohol. Thus, we can say that T.V. can be an educational tool if used wisely and supervised by parents. So, if we use the media in a right manner it can prove to be a boon. But if it is not used wisely, it can be a curse for the society.

Another way of question to be asked in examination:

You are Aditi/Aditya of class VIII. You school is celebrating "Media Awareness Day". On this occasion you have been asked to deliver a speech on-'The Impact of Media on Teenagers'. Taking ideas from the visual given below/ above and using your own ideas, write the speech to be delivered in the morning assembly of your school, in not more than 150 words.

Simple living high thinking

 Q. You are Namita/Nikhil of standard VIII, You are very upset to see that now a days, people waste a lot of time, energy and money to improve their outward appearance. They just believe in show off and not concerned about their character development. Lives of great men like gandhiji, mother teresa, vivekanand etc. provide a guiding light and set examples of true virtues and character. Taking ideas or hints from the unit 'compassionate souls', along with your own ideas, draft a speech to be delivered in the morning assembly of your school on the topic 'Simple living high thinking'. [SA1 2016-17 Class VIII DAV BOARD]

A.

Respected Principal, My worthy teachers and my Dear friends. Today I stand before you to express my views on the topic 'Simple living high thinking'.

Gandhiji followed an ideal life style and believed in simple living high thinking. If a person is serious about the aim of life, he should choose a simple life style. We should have our focus on the path of perfection and simple living. We should take only that what is essential for our life. We should not choose those things that will make our life complicated. To reduce our needs to the minimum, we should be less demanding, we should try to improve ourselves spiritually so that we do not get trapped in the worldly matters. It is a fact that all the great personalities had adopt a simple living style with a broad outlook to ours life. So, if we want to be successful in our life we emulate this thinking in our life.

Thank you !

The lives of Samaritans like Mahatma Hansraj. Dr Parameswar Rao, Mother Teresa, Baba Amte are true examples of compassion and humanitarianism. They all moved out of their comfort zone to serve humanity. Taking ideas from the unit- Compassionate Souls- of English Reader along with your own ideas write a speech on the topic- Simple Living And High Thinking. (100-120 words)